Square One
by Kaleidoskopik
Summary: Look! Another "What if Aang couldn't defeat Ozai?" story! Rated T for what's to come.
1. Chapter 1

Azula's wails pierced Zuko to his core. That was his _sister_ out there, chained to a grate; his _sister,_ who had been hurt by their upbringing just as badly as he had, if not more so. He looked on and listened, his heart crumbling a little more with each tear shed but his body unable to move forward. They both had suffered, but only Azula had broken. According to Fire Nation standard, Zuko should have been proud of himself. But he had never been good at adhering to Fire Nation standard, and all he felt was helplessness. _If only…_ what? If only he'd been more like Azula? If only she'd been more like him? If only their father had actually cared? None of that was possible. There was no use dwelling on what ifs. _But it still hurts_.

"Zuko…" He looked down at the girl who was currently acting as his support beam. Katara. He had so much to thank her for. She was looking at him with concern. Did he really look that bad?

She stepped backward, gently tugging at his shirt sleeve. "Zuko, we have to go. You were injured pretty badly. I want to look at your chest again and make sure I didn't miss anything. You need to rest, and there's nothing we can do – "

"We can't just leave her here." Zuko turned his gaze back to his sister. He didn't think the sight of her like this would ever cease to hurt him. "We can't just leave her here," he said again, this time barely a whisper.

"That won't be necessary," a voice declared from behind them. The two teens turned – well, Katara turned and sort of dragged Zuko along with her – to face the newest courtyard presence. It was one of the Fire Sages from Azula's near-coronation. Zuko tensed. Fire Sages weren't exactly known for their loyalty. Based on the way Katara was standing, she wasn't willing to trust him either. So they stood, waiting for this stranger to elaborate.

The man chuckled. "Well, there's no need for that," he said, gesturing to the glare on each teen's face. "I'm not stupid enough to challenge our new Fire Lord. The rules of Agni Kai are clear – no inclusion of outside parties. Azula broke those rules. As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it."

Zuko and Katara relaxed despite themselves, though not before exchanging a confused glance. They really hadn't been expecting Zuko's ascension to be accepted so easily. Zuko filed this man's face away in his memory, determined to do some digging at a more convenient time. Right now, however, he had a more pressing matter to take care of.

"What are you going to do with my sister?"

The Sage smiled. "Nothing horrible. The Phoenix King won't be pleased if we imprison his precious daughter. The other Sages and I will simply return her to her chambers and guard the entrance." He shrugged. "The King can determine her fate upon his return."

Zuko grimaced. He'd forgotten about Ozai. There was no way in hell he was going to serve as Ozai's royal puppet. _Please, Aang, take him down. We need it._

At his side, Katara was bristling at the Sage's words. "Ozai isn't going to win this!" she snapped. "He can't defeat the Avatar!"

The Fire Sage's gentle smile turned cruel. "Oh, really? Why don't you take a look at the skies, little girl! They portend the success of our King and his domination of the world!"

The younger benders followed the man's gaze and found before them a scene they never thought possible. The sky was divided – half red, half blue. _Ozai and Aang._ Katara's grip on Zuko's arm tightened. They stood, attention fixed on the unnatural colors, willing the blue to overtake the red.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Red steadily inched its way into blue's territory. Zuko heard himself shout for Katara to get down. With strength he didn't know he had, he pulled her into his arms as he knelt, hoping to save her once again from whatever impending doom awaited them. The ground shook harder. He heard the Fire Sage shouting something unintelligible. Then a sick, crashing boom which never would have accompanied a normal earthquake.

The last thing he remembered was a world gone black.

* * *

Katara was the first to regain consciousness. Slowly sitting up, taking care to check for bruises and broken bones – there weren't any – she surveyed the damage around her. The courtyard was in ruins. The buildings looked as though they'd imploded, leaving massive piles of splintered wood in their stead. There were cracks in the yard's foundation, and loose stones where they had been forced from the ground. There was no sign of the Fire Sage. Worse, there was no sign of Azula. Katara sat for innumerable minutes watching the side of the courtyard where she had imprisoned the princess, praying for some kind of movement amidst the rubble. But none came.

Movement in the corner of her eye drew Katara's attention away from the courtyard and to the body beside her. Zuko had finally regained consciousness. Katara rushed to his side to help him sit up, flinching at his hiss of pain. She didn't want to think about how badly he'd fallen in his attempt to protect her. Again.

"What hurts?" she asked. She thought she already knew, but better safe than sorry.

"Everything," was his grunted response.

Katara paused. On one hand, she was almost convinced that aggravation of the lightning wound was the cause of Zuko's pain. She couldn't be sure, though, and thus she decided to proceed with caution. She pulled water from the air around her and brought her hands to Zuko's chest. As the liquid glowed, she willed the aches and bruises gone, drew the excess energy away from her friend's heart, and knitted together what flesh would cooperate. She sighed inwardly. She wouldn't be able to keep the wound from scarring. _If only I'd paid more attention to Yugoda's lessons; maybe then I'd be better at healing my friends._

When Katara had done all she could, she dispelled the water and sat back on her heels. Zuko would require some traditional medical attention, but at least the lightning was out of his system._ He should really be dead right now,_ she mused as she watched him stretch stiff muscles. Not that she was complaining. She didn't think she could stand to lose any of the people she cared about, not after all they'd been through together.

Zuko relaxed and turned toward her, gratitude clear in his eyes. "Katara – "

"I'm the one who should be thanking you, remember? That's twice now."

Zuko gave her a small smile and turned back toward the battered courtyard, his expression growing dimmer with each pass. "We didn't win, did we?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Katara frowned. "I… I don't know," she answered truthfully. The only real evidence they had of anything was the earthquake, but Katara still had a bad feeling. She stood up and brushed herself off. "For right now, we have to believe Aang pulled through. We'll hear from Sokka, Suki and Toph in a day or two about how great everyone was in taking down the Fire Lord and Sokka will crack a few bad jokes and everything will go back to normal."

Zuko continued to stare at the rubble, clearly doubtful of Katara's optimism. "Even if we win, nothing will return to normal. I don't think we ever even had a 'normal.'"

"Of course we did," Katara responded. "You, me, Sokka, Aang, Toph and Suki, all sitting around a campfire drinking tea and telling stories, planning Aang's training – that's our normal." She knelt down in front of him so that they could see eye-to-eye. "And you're right. Even if we win, we probably can't go back to that. At least, not for a while, anyway. But what won't change is our ability to count on each other. We will always be friends, got it?"

Zuko smiled. "Got it."

"Good." Katara stood up again, this time holding a hand out to pull Zuko up with her. "Now, Sir Fire Lord, if someone wanted a hot meal and a good night's rest, where would she go?"

Zuko cringed. "Well, celebratory feasts were usually held in there," he said, pointing to what had been the main building of the plaza. "Now I'd say that unless you're willing to steal, we'll have to find a way to sneak into the palace kitchens."

"But why would we have to sneak in? You're Fire Lord now. Can't you pretty much do whatever you want?"

Zuko sighed. "Not until the Avatar says so. As far as we know, the war isn't over yet."

Katara winced. "Right. On second thought, let's just go find Appa."

They found the bison huddled by the far wall. The earthquake had obviously spooked him. Once she had made sure Zuko was resting against Appa's side – despite his assurances that he really was fine – Katara climbed into the saddle and retrieved some of the food Iroh had given them. She thanked the spirits for the general's foresight. To be tired, worried _and_ hungry would have been more than she could bear at the current moment. Upon her return she handed Zuko his share and sat down beside him. They ate in silence, both afraid to consider the possibilities. After all, formulating a plan in case of failure was as good as admitting defeat, and this was one battle neither wanted to lose.

"Katara?"

The sound of her name pulled Katara out of her reverie. She was surprised to see that night had fallen, the full moon shining white in the darkness. "Yeah?"

"We'll find them."

"I know."

The two benders curled against Appa's side, allowing their breath to slow and their minds to drift, each hoping for a better tomorrow.

* * *

_A/N:_

_Aaaand I finally got this revised! It still isn't perfect, but I much prefer this version. Now to rewrite the second chapter... Uff._

_Anyway, some things: Yes, the earthquake was caused by an energybending-related explosion. I haven't decided whether I'm going to explain it in the notes or in the story but I will eventually explain my reasons for it._

_Also, I know Katara's rambling a lot. I had too much fun with her optimistic side. I regret nothing. If someone really has a problem with it AND viable suggestions for fixing it, I'll edit some more. Also, I've decided that Katara and/or Zuko needs to give at least one inspirational speech per every 5 or so chapters. Because I can._

_Finally, I judged distances based on the Avatar wiki maps. The coronation plaza is apparently a decent distance southeast of the main palace and right next to a lake, hence Katara not wanting to travel to the palace on foot with an injured Zuko._

_Next time - where's the rest of the Gaang?_


	2. Chapter 2

In the process of major edits. The revised chapter will be up by the end of next week! (probably)


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